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Protease-Responsive Hydrogel Microparticles for Intradermal Drug Delivery

Noddeland, Heidi K. ; Lind, Marianne ; Petersson, Karsten ; Caruso, Frank ; Malmsten, Martin LU and Heinz, Andrea (2023) In Biomacromolecules 24(7). p.3203-3214
Abstract

Protease-responsive multi-arm polyethylene glycol-based microparticles with biscysteine peptide crosslinkers (CGPGG↓LAGGC) were obtained for intradermal drug delivery through inverse suspension photopolymerization. The average size of the spherical hydrated microparticles was ∼40 μm after crosslinking, making them attractive as a skin depot and suitable for intradermal injections, as they are readily dispensable through 27G needles. The effects of exposure to matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) on the microparticles were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, demonstrating partial network destruction and decrease in elastic moduli. Given the recurring course of many skin diseases, the microparticles were... (More)

Protease-responsive multi-arm polyethylene glycol-based microparticles with biscysteine peptide crosslinkers (CGPGG↓LAGGC) were obtained for intradermal drug delivery through inverse suspension photopolymerization. The average size of the spherical hydrated microparticles was ∼40 μm after crosslinking, making them attractive as a skin depot and suitable for intradermal injections, as they are readily dispensable through 27G needles. The effects of exposure to matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) on the microparticles were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, demonstrating partial network destruction and decrease in elastic moduli. Given the recurring course of many skin diseases, the microparticles were exposed to MMP-9 in a flare-up mimicking fashion (multiple-time exposure), showing a significant increase in release of tofacitinib citrate (TC) from the MMP-responsive microparticles, which was not seen for the non-responsive microparticles (polyethylene glycol dithiol crosslinker). It was found that the degree of multi-arm complexity of the polyethylene glycol building blocks can be utilized to tune not only the release profile of TC but also the elastic moduli of the hydrogel microparticles, with Young’s moduli ranging from 14 to 140 kPa going from 4-arm to 8-arm MMP-responsive microparticles. Finally, cytotoxicity studies conducted with skin fibroblasts showed no reduction in metabolic activity after 24 h exposure to the microparticles. Overall, these findings demonstrate that protease-responsive microparticles exhibit the properties of interest for intradermal drug delivery.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Biomacromolecules
volume
24
issue
7
pages
12 pages
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:37307231
  • scopus:85164252126
ISSN
1525-7797
DOI
10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00265
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8fe1955a-54f3-4189-9afd-664da37bcaf7
date added to LUP
2023-10-06 14:09:18
date last changed
2024-04-19 02:02:02
@article{8fe1955a-54f3-4189-9afd-664da37bcaf7,
  abstract     = {{<p>Protease-responsive multi-arm polyethylene glycol-based microparticles with biscysteine peptide crosslinkers (CGPGG↓LAGGC) were obtained for intradermal drug delivery through inverse suspension photopolymerization. The average size of the spherical hydrated microparticles was ∼40 μm after crosslinking, making them attractive as a skin depot and suitable for intradermal injections, as they are readily dispensable through 27G needles. The effects of exposure to matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) on the microparticles were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, demonstrating partial network destruction and decrease in elastic moduli. Given the recurring course of many skin diseases, the microparticles were exposed to MMP-9 in a flare-up mimicking fashion (multiple-time exposure), showing a significant increase in release of tofacitinib citrate (TC) from the MMP-responsive microparticles, which was not seen for the non-responsive microparticles (polyethylene glycol dithiol crosslinker). It was found that the degree of multi-arm complexity of the polyethylene glycol building blocks can be utilized to tune not only the release profile of TC but also the elastic moduli of the hydrogel microparticles, with Young’s moduli ranging from 14 to 140 kPa going from 4-arm to 8-arm MMP-responsive microparticles. Finally, cytotoxicity studies conducted with skin fibroblasts showed no reduction in metabolic activity after 24 h exposure to the microparticles. Overall, these findings demonstrate that protease-responsive microparticles exhibit the properties of interest for intradermal drug delivery.</p>}},
  author       = {{Noddeland, Heidi K. and Lind, Marianne and Petersson, Karsten and Caruso, Frank and Malmsten, Martin and Heinz, Andrea}},
  issn         = {{1525-7797}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{3203--3214}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{Biomacromolecules}},
  title        = {{Protease-Responsive Hydrogel Microparticles for Intradermal Drug Delivery}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00265}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00265}},
  volume       = {{24}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}